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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25570201">Wood</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_gardens/pseuds/rose_gardens'>rose_gardens</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Body Horror, Conversations, Dead Carla Yeager, Gen, Loosely connected, Mystery that becomes paranormal, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Story within a Story, Urban Fantasy, mentions of abuse, that weird subgenre of horror that takes place in the woods</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:22:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,251</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25570201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_gardens/pseuds/rose_gardens</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi's been searching for his missing boyfriend for months. It turns out to just be the tip of the iceberg.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi/Erwin Smith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>sort of a snippet of a larger au i have that i may or may not write fully.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The kettle whistled loudly as it sat on the stove, and the man took it off, pouring the boiling water into the mugs. He dunked the teabag in for a moment, and brought them over to the kitchen table where Levi was sitting.</p><p>"I did meet your missing boyfriend," The man, Keith, said. Levi took a sip of the tea and cringed. It tasted like watery piss.</p><p>"You were the last person to see him, right?" Levi asked, ignoring the terrible drink he'd been served.</p><p>Keith nodded. "He asked me about some local urban legends. I thought maybe he was an author or journalist, looking for a juicy tale, but we never heard back from him. Of course, until you came around and started asking about him."</p><p>Levi stared Keith in the eye. He wasn't that old, could barely be older than Levi himself, but he looked like the years had taken a toll on him.</p><p>"What was he asking about?" Levi asked, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady.</p><p>"It was nothing," Keith said, hand shaking as he held his mug. "Barely anything. Just an old story."</p><p>Levi was a master of intimidation - he'd been in a less than ideal living situation before he'd met Erwin, and he knew how to survive out in the world. "Tell me the story."</p><p>Keith sat his drink down. "You may have heard of the Maria Tree Baby before - they say there was a baby found inside the hollow of a tree."</p><p>"Yeah, I heard it," Levi said. Just an hour ago, he'd spoken to one of the firefighters who'd found the baby all those years ago. "They never found a mother, so they just put him up for adoption or whatever."</p><p>"They never did find her," Keith said, "but I think I know what happened to her."</p><p>Levi stared at the man. "You know what happened to her... and you didn't tell the cops?"</p><p>"Who would believe me?" Keith asked, looking wistfully into the distance. "What would they say if I told them what I told your boyfriend?"</p><p>"And? What did you tell him?"</p><p>Keith sighed. "I suppose - I'd better start at the beginning.</p><p>"Carla was my friend. This town, it's small. We all know each other, some of us since birth. It was like that with Carla. We went to school together, hung out at the park, I even took her to senior prom."</p><p>Keith chuckled at the memory, but his laugh faded as he continued.</p><p>"I liked her, 'course. She was - how do you say it? Perfect? Of course, she wasn't perfect, who is, but to me, all her flaws and imperfections made her, well, her. We dated, for a while, but - didn't work out. I didn't mind too much, because we were still friends. At least, until... him."</p><p>""Him?"" Levi raised an eyebrow. Keith narrowed his eyes, bitter at whoever this man was.</p><p>"Grisha Jaeger turned up on the edge of town one day, with no memory of where he came from or who he was, just a name. He and Carla hit it right off, and... they fell in love. It was hard, watching them together in love, but I figured that it was best for Carla if I let her be with the man she loved." A grim look overtook Keith. "I was dead wrong. After maybe a year of the two dating, Grisha claimed to remember his home and family. And the two of them took off to find them.</p><p>"I didn't see Carla again for a long time. A little over a year, it was, when she showed up on my doorstep - she'd been crying, and her hair was knotted, and she was pregnant. We talked, but not about anything important. Not about Grisha, or what they'd been doing, or her baby. She avoided any questions I brought up. I figured he'd hurt her, that she was running away from him."</p><p>"And was she?" Levi asked, now engrossed in the story.</p><p>"Carla finally told me what happened," Keith continued. "After a time. She told me that Grisha's family had been unwelcoming, that she was scared they would hurt her and the baby. Grisha hadn't listened to her worries, so they'd fought and she'd come to the one person she knew would show up for her... and that was me."</p><p>"So he let his pregnant girlfriend get harassed by the family, doing nothing." Levi shifted in his seat, and hoped for some confirmation.</p><p>"From what Carla told me... yes."</p><p>"Bitch," Levi said. He knew about shitty in-laws; he'd met Erwin's mother a couple of times and she'd been stone cold to him. When Levi had told him about these encounters, Erwin had confronted his mother about it. And every time they met up since, Mrs Smith had been amicable. Levi felt Erwin might have threatened to stop talking to her if she kept it up.</p><p>Though it wasn't like she'd opened her house to him and the kids when they'd been evicted.</p><p>"I guess he was," Keith continued. "I always wanted to regard him with respect, but in that moment I couldn't. How could he do that? How could he ignore his wife's fears that way? Was he truly heartless?</p><p>"I tried to convince Carla not to go back for him. I asked her if she wanted to see her parents, tell them about their future grandchild. But Carla just shook her head. She had to find Grisha, to get him out of that place. Before she left, she hugged me. And her baby kicked. And Carla smiled, and laughed. She wanted that baby. She loved that baby, and she loved that baby's father. So I let her go."</p><p>There were tears in Keith's eyes, as he looked off in the distance.</p><p>"So," Levi said slowly, "you're saying that Carla - that her kid was the tree baby, and she... left him? Despite apparently loving him?"</p><p>Keith turned back to Levi, his stare now solid. "No. This is going to sound crazy, this is why I never went to the authorities, but I think..." he lowered his voice, "look. Before Carla left, I saw something on her arm, it looked like a birthmark, or something."</p><p>"Like a bruise."</p><p>Keith shook his head. "No. It looked... well, <em>wooden</em>. And she was trying to hide it, covering it with her sleeve. I think... I think Carla <em>was</em> the tree."</p><p>A stunned silence echoed through the room for what felt like hours.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Levi said, placing his hands in his lap, "you said that Carla was - the <em>tree</em>?"</p><p>Keith was pulling his leg. Or delusional. His claim was fully absurd. People weren't trees, they couldn't become trees, trees were wood and humans were meat.</p><p>"Ha, your fiance didn't believe me at first either," Keith said with a smile. "And I know it's outlandish. But think - the baby was enclosed in the tree entirely. And that mark I saw... It was wood. Whatever Grisha's family did to her, I don't think it was just normal abuse."</p><p>"You're crazy."</p><p>Keith sat back, a melancholy look on his face. "This is why I couldn't go to the police. How would I tell them that?"</p><p>Levi was silent. "So what does this have to do with Erwin? Why did he want to know?"</p><p>"I don't know," Keith said, "but when I finished telling him, he got up, thanked me, and left. And after that, well, I didn't hear from him again. Then six months later, you came along saying he'd been missing the whole time. But if I had to guess, he went into the woods. To see Carla... the tree."</p><p>Levi stared at Keith for a moment, before pushing out his chair and getting up.</p><p>Keith didn't know where Erwin was. He didn't know anything about Levi's missing boyfriend. He couldn't help, and this was a waste of time. Time that Levi could have spent with his kids.</p><p>"Thanks for the tea," Levi said dryly. The tea in question still sat on the table, untouched and cold.</p><p>He went to leave Keith's apartment, completely done with the man.</p><p>Until a photo on a dresser caught his eye. He stopped, and took a step back, and looked closer at the photo. A man and a woman - boy and girl, really - posed in front of a staircase. They were all dressed up for some dance, prom, presumably. Levi had dropped out, and never been to a school dance.</p><p>The man was clearly Keith, though much younger and with worse fashion sense. The woman, presumably Carla, looked familiar, as if Levi knew her.</p><p>But why would he? He'd never seen her before. He didn't live anywhere near-</p><p>Without tearing his eyes from the picture, Levi took the folded-up family photograph he'd been using to see if people recognised Erwin from his jacket pocket. He unfolded the photo, and held it next to the one on the dresser.</p><p>The same colour hair. The same nose. The same eyes. The same face.</p><p>It was like seeing an older woman version of his son.</p><p>"When did you see Carla last?" Levi asked, slowly and deliberately. </p><p>"Almost four years ago, now," Keith said, wistfully.</p><p>
  <em>Eren was almost four. </em>
</p><p>Like that, the final nail was hammered into the coffin. It all made sense now. Erwin's disappearance and interest in Carla.</p><p>"I'm going now," Levi said, and he left the house, trying to process what he had just learned.</p><p> </p><p>He'd never thought much about who Eren's birth mother had been. The agency said he'd been abandoned, so they didn't <em>know</em> anything about her. She could have been anyone.</p><p>There were two points Levi was grappling with. </p><p>1. That his son's mother allegedly turned into a tree, and;</p><p>2. That his boyfriend had been investigating her without telling him. </p><p>Levi didn't pry into Erwin's life often, respecting his boyfriend's right to privacy. But this was about their <em>son</em>. It concerned all of them. </p><p>On the street, Levi looked down at the family photo. This was the best photo they could get out of the shoot, one where Eren was sitting still and Mikasa was looking at the camera. They'd just turned three. The only person really smiling in the photo - Levi was, just with his eyes - was Erwin. He had that kind and genuine smile, the one that said <em>I love you.</em></p><p>"I'll find you," Levi promised. He was going to find Erwin. He was going to make his family whole again. </p><p> </p><p>The sun was going down. Everything was washed in an orange light. Birds were singing. </p><p>The car door slammed, and Levi got out. This was the spot. </p><p>He walked away from the car, heading into the woods by the road. A path led up a hill, and Levi followed it. It took him deeper into the woods.</p><p>He found his goal after a ten minute hike. One tree stood out from the others, feeling out of place with the rest. It looked like a wooden sculpture more than a naturally-occurring tree. The tree had what looked like a face, contorted into a sorrowful expression. Amber leaked from where its eyes would be. </p><p>Levi sat before it, and tried to get comfortable.</p><p>"Hey," he said. It was not lost on him that he was talking to a tree, but that was beside the point. "So you're Carla."</p><p>Levi could see that, around where Carla's midsection would be, there was a hacked-away hole. </p><p>"You don't know me, but I'm looking after your son," Levi continued. "Adopted him. His name's Eren."</p><p>Crickets chirped in the undergrowth. It looked as if tree-Carla's expression changed, softened up a bit. Levi didn't know if it was just a trick of the light, or something else. Who knew anything anymore?</p><p>Levi told her about Eren. He spoke about his picky eating, his amplified emotions, his love for his family. </p><p>"I think you'd be proud of him."</p><p>And for the first time in a long time, Levi felt as if the world was not quite so large and empty, and that he was not quite so alone in it all.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A jump forwards in time. Levi followed Erwin's trail to a shady commune who were less than welcoming to him. When he discovered his hosts were poisoning him, he escaped.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>happy halloween! not very happy with the ending of this chapter, but i can't focus on it in the slightest. </p><p>I will at some point fill-in-the-blanks and write the scenes I've skipped over, but I don't want to right now.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Growing up, Levi had learned to be wary of strangers. The only person you could trust on the streets was yourself, and what little family you had. Even after he'd gotten off the streets, and learned to live a semi-normal life, he'd never really learned to let go of his distrust of new people. Erwin had the exact opposite problem; he was far <em>too</em> trusting. He'd be friendly with a workmate and it wasn't until he introduced them to Levi that he realised his new friend wanted him dead and/or thought their kids shouldn't exist.</p><p>He'd guessed that the lily-white weirdo hippy commune was danger from the very beginning, and it wasn't just his trauma speaking. They'd felt <em>wrong</em> - their smiles obviously fake, feeling reluctantly tolerant rather than genuinely welcoming.</p><p>He just wished he'd done more about it <em>then</em>, so he didn't end up in <em>this</em> situation. </p><p>Levi was finding it harder and harder to breathe as he ran. Normally, he wouldn't be so exhausted, but this was far from normal. He didn't want to stop, though, because he was certain that would be when he'd get jumped by whoever - or whatever - the cult had sent after him. </p><p>His vision was starting to blur. Maybe the poison in his veins was finally getting to him. Maybe he was just exhausted. It was difficult to differentiate at the moment. </p><p>His footfalls were still frequent, twigs and leaves cracking under his feet. One step. Another. Take a short and scratchy breath. Hold back the urge to cough. </p><p>Levi's heart nearly stopped when his foot didn't land on solid ground. </p><p>With his blurred vision, he hadn't seen where the land dropped away. He stumbled, and fell down the slope. </p><p>
  <em>Shit. Shit fuck fuck.</em>
</p><p>He grabbed onto a nearby tree branch, halting his descent. Levi stood in place as he caught his breath, heart rate slowing down to a realistic speed. </p><p>"Fuck," Levi tried to say, but all that came out was a scratchy moan. </p><p>"So, this is the great and terrible Ackerman?" <br/>
<br/>
Shit. </p><p>Levi didn't need to turn around to know that it was that bastard cultist kid behind him, with that awful smug grin on his face. </p><p>"You know, he talked about you," Zeke said. "Your man. He really seemed to be in love. Shame he didn't want to cooperate with us."</p><p>Levi could feel rage filling his entire body. How dare he talk about Erwin? Especially after what the cult had done to him. To <em>both</em> of them. Levi wanted to shout at the brat, but his voice wasn't working.</p><p>"It's setting in, isn't it?" Zeke's tone changed. He sounded worried. "The curse."</p><p>Levi looked down at his arms, and closed his eyes. He didn't want to look.</p><p>"You know, I <em>could</em> help you," Zeke said. His tone had changed yet again, teasing this time, and he stepped closer.</p><p>
  <em>Shut up.</em>
</p><p>"But I don't think I want to." He was close to Levi now. He could almost feel his breath on the back of his neck. "I mean, you can't help our family. And you <em>did</em> take my little brother away."</p><p>Levi opened his eyes again. His heart froze. Was he talking about-</p><p>"Your man talked a lot about those kids, too," Zeke said. "Did you know that the boy was my father's son? Well, his and that whore's. He's my brother, and I think I have a right to see him."</p><p>There were so many things Levi wanted to say. <em>Stay away from him</em>, or <em>over my dead body</em>, or maybe just curse Erwin for telling this obviously evil cult about their children. But he couldn't speak. All that he could manage was an even more pathetic gasp, raspy and <em>wooden</em>. </p><p>Wood. Like the wood on his arms and legs and probably more of his body now. The wood in his veins and in his throat.</p><p>Zeke chuckled. "It's faster than usual. Normally it takes weeks for the poisoned to even show symptoms. I mean, you did get a much larger dose than what they usually get, and all at once too."</p><p>Levi turned, looking over his shoulder. Zeke was smiling a shit-eating grin, but that smile fell quickly when he saw Levi's face. He looked shocked. Clearly, Levi looked worse than he thought. </p><p>"Well, I have to go," Zeke said. He tried to regain his douchebaggish persona, but still looked unsettled. "I'll leave you here. Not that you're going anywhere."</p><p>And he left. Levi wanted to follow. He wanted to bash this kid's head in. But his body...</p><p>He slumped forward. </p><p>The kids would be in bed by now. They'd better be. It was late. </p><p>Levi already missed them. He'd never see them again now. Never have to clean juice stains out of shirt sleeves, or listen to <em>Aladdin</em> on loop, or pick up toys they'd left out before bed. Never get to sing them back to sleep after a nightmare. Never listen to the sound of them playing in the other room, hearing the laughter and careless joy of a childhood he was never lucky enough to have.</p><p>They'd probably be taken away and split up in the foster system. Mikasa would feel it the worst. She'd just started to open up to them and now she would be an orphan again. </p><p>Somebody called out his name from far away. They sounded worried. <em>It's too late now, though, </em>Levi thought. He wasn't getting up from this. </p><p>Erwin's sweet smile flashed in Levi's memory as he closed his eyes. That was a good image to die to.</p><p>
  <em>Goodbye.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He was being held. He was home - their old home, in their shared bed, with its clean linen. The sun shone through the crack in the blinds, spilling across his face. And Erwin had his arms around him in an embrace. </p><p><em>It must be heaven.</em> <em>I've died and gone to heaven and Erwin is here holding me.</em></p><p>"Good morning," Erwin whispered. His voice was low and honey-like, causing Levi to shiver. He smiled. </p><p>"I missed you," Levi said, but Erwin didn't hear him. Because as soon as Levi opened his mouth, he woke up. </p><p> </p><p>He was not in his warm bedroom in his old house. He was not lying on soft bedsheets next to the love of his life. His vision was blurry, and he could not see well, but he could feel. He was lying on a packed dirt floor, which was freezing cold and <em>literally</em> dirt. <em>Disgusting</em>.</p><p>Levi rolled over onto his back, and blinked. He could make out several blurry shapes around him, none of which he could name. One other thing he noticed was that he was not, anymore, covered in wood.</p><p>He lay where he was for a very long time, his only movements being blinking and the up-and-down of his chest as he breathed. Somehow, he was alive. Not a tree-man. Somebody had taken him here from the forest. As he wiggled his toes to make sure they still worked, Levi had a nasty thought - that one of the cultists had found him and taken him to their sacrificial altar. Levi wouldn't put it past the weirdos to have one of those.</p><p>He flexed his right foot. If he really had been kidnapped by the cultists, he needed to run. He'd been given a second chance, after all, and he wasn't going to waste it. </p><p>Something made a sudden noise. Levi turned his head to the side, so fast it hurt his neck. <em>Fuck</em>. A blurry shape sat across from him, where two walls met in a corner. There were things between him and the strange figure, who Levi could now make out as a person. One looked like a kettle, hung over a burnt-out fire, and some looked cup-like. A camping set?</p><p>The person moved slightly. As Levi's vision improved, he could make out more of them, their body becoming more defined. The person was a mess, wearing a torn shirt that may have once been white, but was now covered in grass and dirt stains. One arm was around their legs, and their head hung limp, asleep. They had messy hair, twigs and leaves caught in the blond strands. The members of the cult, at least the ones Levi had met, had all been clean. Brushed hair, spotless robes. So this person couldn't be with the cult. Were they some kind of hermit? A crazy old man who was going to hunt Levi for sport? </p><p>Levi wasn't going to stick around to find out. He propped himself up with his elbow, with a great effort, and tried to sit up. He was still stiff.</p><p>"Ugh," he said involuntarily. He regretted the noise as soon as he made it, and panicked. </p><p>The man in the corner sat up. He rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand, and looked directly at Levi. </p><p><em>Look at that beard,</em> Levi thought in revulsion. <em>This crusty old hermit hasn't shaved for months</em>. </p><p>The hermit sat up, and he smiled. It was a soft smile that reached his eyes and nearly calmed Levi. It didn't, though. He pulled his legs up, ready to stand.</p><p>"Don't get up," the man said urgently. He reached his arm out, and got to his feet. "You're still healing. I don't want you hurting yourself."</p><p>The man's voice was warm, familiar. But so, so tired, as if he had been awake for far too long. Levi felt that way too often.</p><p>The man began to walk closer to Levi. By now, he saw that the man's other arm was... not there. His shirt sleeve was tied up in a knot near the shoulder. Something dark red stained the sleeve. </p><p>The man passed the makeshift campfire and knelt down next to Levi. Every bone in his body was screaming <em>go! go now! </em>but he was frozen in place. </p><p>The man smiled at him again. "I was so scared, Levi," he said softly, and Levi immediately recoiled. This guy knew his name. His <em>name</em>. How did he - was he a stalker? What about the kids, were they safe?</p><p>The man's face fell as Levi moved away from him. He looked heartbroken. "Levi, I-"</p><p>"How the <em>hell</em> do you know my name?" Levi snapped. The man took a sharp breath.</p><p>"Levi," the man said, for a third time, a pleading look in his eyes. "It's <em>me</em>."</p><p><em>You..?</em> Levi stared at the man, examining his face. He looked-</p><p>No. No, he wouldn't be that lucky. </p><p>But the more he looked at the man, the more his face blurred with Erwin's. His nose, and his eyebrows - those fucking caterpillar eyebrows - and his eyes. Oh, those eyes, with that familiar lively glint, and that soft, gentle smile. </p><p>It <em>couldn't</em> be Erwin. After six months, Levi's search couldn't have come to an end. He'd never thought he'd <em>actually</em> find Erwin, at least not alive - alive and <em>in front of him</em>, right <em>there -</em></p><p>"You're-" Levi struggled to find the right words. His face heated up, tears stinging. "I - <em>Erwin</em>."</p><p>Erwin smiled, and did something between a laugh and a sob. He reached his hand out to brush the side of Levi's face - Levi intercepted it, grabbing his wrist. He sat up, head spinning.</p><p>"You <em>asshole</em>," Levi hissed. Erwin's face fell immediately, worried.</p><p>"I-" Erwin took his hand away. "Levi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"</p><p>"You piece of <em>shit</em>, Smith," Levi continued. "You left in the middle of the fucking night. No... no note, no notice, you just left me with two bratty toddlers I can barely look after. I was looking for you for months, Erwin, when the cops gave up on you. They thought you were dead! We had to move in with Hanji! Did you even think how the kids would take it? Fuck you." </p><p>Levi wasn't holding back his tears any more. Until now, he hadn't realised how angry he was at Erwin. Erwin wasn't crying, but he looked horrified.</p><p>"Oh, and didn't you <em>once</em> think to mention that you knew our son was born from some fucking <em>cult</em>?" Levi added. "I had to find that out for myself. I came to that cult to look for you, and they turned me into a <em>tree</em>. Our kids would be at home, alone, waiting for me to come home and I <em>wouldn't come back</em>." </p><p>Erwin shook his head, shocked by Levi's outburst. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think-"</p><p>"Of course you didn't." Levi had calmed down now, but he was no less angry. He turned around. He didn't want to look at Erwin right now.</p><p>"I'll... go and get some more water," Erwin said quietly, standing up. He went to the door of the shed, and opened it. Some light filtered in, before Erwin shut the door behind him and Levi was in the dark yet again.</p><p>And then he cried. Not angry tears, this time, but... <em>happy </em>tears. Because Erwin was alive and just outside - and then sad tears, because the first real thing Levi had done was chew him out and call him an asshole.</p><p>And then Levi laughed. He needed sleep. Maybe he'd wake up and it would have all been a dream, and the kids would beg him to get out of bed and put cartoons on. And Erwin would be there beside him, and everything would be good again.</p>
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